Ellison, Choi win court orders keeping gang members from State Fair

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Aug. 20 that they had secured agreements and court injunctions against two gangs and 10 individuals accused of planning violence at this year’s Minnesota State Fair.

Seven of the 10 people named in the Aug. 5 civil lawsuits agreed not to attend the fair or enter a designated safety zone around the fairgrounds from Aug. 27 through Sept. 8. Four allegedly tied to the South Metro-based gang The Ville, Salim Booste Awil, Jamarion Gregory Lee, Raheem Kiprono Ruto and David Mariam-Brandon Leghie, and three allegedly tied to the Minneapolis-based gang Muddy, Omar Abdulawahab Mohamed, Hamza Munye Haji-Sufi and Imran Abdi Habib, signed the agreement. If they comply, Ellison and Choi will dismiss the legal action against them once the fair ends. All seven deny gang membership.

Ramsey County District Court ruled that three others, all allegedly tied to Muddy, are gang members: Nasrudin Abdirashid Warsame, known as OG, and Bilal Abdi Farah, known as Bemo, who contested the allegations through counsel, and Mustafe Yusuf Omar, known as Mussy, who did not appear in court. The court barred the three from associating with known gang members, confronting or intimidating people, using gang signs or forcing anyone to join or preventing anyone from leaving the gang, within the fair or the safety zone during that same window. The court also declared Muddy a criminal gang under Minnesota law.

“Criminal law is a tool we use as a society to hold individuals accountable after they have committed criminal offenses. Civil law is a tool we can and should use to help prevent crimes before they happen, and that’s what we’ve done here,” Ellison said.

Choi described the intervention as a shift from reactive prosecution to prevention. “Oftentimes as the chief prosecutor of Ramsey County, we’re responding,” he said. “The best part of crime prevention strategies is when we do something like this, when we know that something could possibly happen.” He called the approach “focused deterrence,” a strategy built on pairing legal consequences with community outreach meant to discourage gang activity before it turns violent.

State and county attorneys pointed to a string of incidents to support the gang designation, including a shooting outside the 2024 State Fair that wounded three people, gunfire at a 2025 Burnsville High School graduation, a 2025 assault at a Qamiria Coffee shop, a filmed fight near the Midway at last year’s fair, a shooting at a Metro State University graduation in May and Muddy members stopped in June carrying handguns with extended magazines near a Somali Independence Day festival. Prosecutors also cited social media posts from this July and August promoting a large gang confrontation at the fair, including one headlined “Muddy vs Ville.”

Minnesota State Fair Police Chief Ron Knafla said enforcement will rely on the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office rather than fair police directly approaching anyone. “The only ones that will take enforcement action on them are those representatives from those agencies that personally know these individuals,” Knafla said. If a fair officer suspects someone matches one of the 10, the officer will contact the sheriff’s office first, and a deputy familiar with the individuals will confirm their identity before any contact is made. Deputies will not be posted scanning entrances, Knafla said, but will move through the fairgrounds as needed.

Asked why the three individuals found to be gang members weren’t simply barred from the fairgrounds outright, Knafla deferred to Choi and Ellison, noting the court’s order was narrower in scope. Ellison said the law does not allow prosecution for gang association alone. “You can’t prosecute somebody just for identifying themselves as a gang member,” he said. “They have to commit a crime.” The seven who agreed not to attend at all would be violating a court order simply by showing up, he said, which would trigger law enforcement action. The three under the narrower order face consequences only if they engage in specific prohibited conduct.

Choi said the effort is paired with community-based violence intervention work, including outreach from clergy in the Somali community and others encouraging young men involved with the gangs to change course. He called on state lawmakers to increase funding for those prevention programs. “Violence is down overall, very much so,” Choi said, when asked whether gang violence had increased this year. “But for the person who’s a crime victim, it’s up 100%.”

Minnesota State Fair CEO Renee Alexander and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s office also took part in the effort. “The state fair belongs to the people of Minnesota,” Alexander said. “It’s about bringing people together to celebrate.”

The case builds on a broader pattern of civil enforcement from Ellison’s office aimed at public safety, including a settlement with Fleet Farm over negligent firearm sales, an ongoing lawsuit against Glock over handguns that can be modified into machine guns, a settlement with Hyundai and Kia over vehicle anti-theft technology and a nuisance investigation into a Minneapolis liquor store and gas station tied to gun violence and drug sales.

Knafla said the goal remains prevention, not enforcement. “We would rather at the State Fair not have to do any law enforcement work,” he said. “Our goal is for everybody to come out, enjoy the fair with their friends and family, and have a great time.”

Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.com.